Our ultimate failure in Afghanistan became a self-fulfilling
prophecy the moment that this administration decided that our
only strategy was withdrawal.

From the Military Times:

[Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, deputy commander of the NATO Training
Mission in Afghanistan] slammed Karzai in a Politico interview after the Afghan president
said his nation would side with Pakistan in a war against the
U.S.

"You’ve got to be kidding me.” Politico quoted Fuller as saying.
“I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling
me, ‘I don’t really care’? … They don’t understand the sacrifices
that America is making to provide for their security."

What exactly would anyone expect Karzai to say? Our rush
for the exits only proves that we aren’t reliable, and no one can
depend on the US to stick it out for the duration. That’s not to
say that the troops won’t do their level best, but this is a
failure of the civilian "leadership" if that word can be applied
in any reasonable form to the relationship between the
politicians and the trigger pullers. Because leadership, as the
term is normally used in our language is noticeably
absent.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said he trusts the president’s
commitment to the 2014 withdrawal. Still, he said the failure to
bring the bipartisan resolution to the floor was “an historic act
of political cowardice.”

"Ten years later and $533 billion spent on the war in
Afghanistan, it remains clear there is no military solution,” Lee
said. “The American people have made it clear that the war is no
longer worth fighting… It is past time for our policy to catch up
with the American people."

There wasn’t a military solution when the anti-war Left decided
that to be true and thrust that strategy on the troops.

The American people have reached the same conclusion as the
Afghans – if we’re leaving Afghanistan and that’s our only goal,
sooner is better than later. Who wants to be the last to die so
this president can look like a fierce war president?